Angelina Jolie Has Double Mastectomy to Prevent Breast Cancer

LONDON— Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has
had a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer and says she hopes her story will inspire other women fighting the life-threatening disease.

Jolie wrote in the New York Times on Tuesday the operation has made it easier for her to reassure her six children that she would not die young from cancer, like her own mother did at 56.

"We often speak of 'Mommy's mommy', and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me,'' wrote Jolie, 37.

"I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a 'faulty' gene.''

The Oscar-winning actress said her doctors had estimated she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

"Once I knew this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much as I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy,'' she said.

Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie has revealed she has undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of developing cancer.

Partner and fellow Hollywood star Brad Pitt was by Jolie's side through three months of treatment that ended late in April, she said. The two got engaged last year.

"Having witnessed this decision firsthand, I find Angie's choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic,'' Pitt told London's Evening Standard newspaper. "All I want is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family.''

Jolie said that even though she had kept silent about her treatment while it was going on, she hoped her story would now help other women.

"I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested.''

Breast cancer alone kills some 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization. It is estimated that one in 300 to one in 500 women carry a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene mutation, as Jolie does.

Sambolin, who anchors CNN's "Early Start'' morning show, discussed her condition on the show while talking about Jolie's procedure.

"I struggled for weeks trying to figure out how tell you that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was leaving to have surgery,'' Sambolin, 47, said on Facebook. "Then ... Angelina Jolie shares her story of a double mastectomy and gives me strength and an opening.''

Jolie's decision was also welcomed by breast cancer patients and charities.

Richard Francis, head of research at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity in Britain, said it demonstrated the importance of educating women with the gene fault.

"For women like Angelina it's important that they are made fully aware of all the options that are available, including risk-reducing surgery and extra breast screening,'' Francis told Reuters.

Breast Cancer Campaign Chief Executive Baroness Delyth Morgan said Jolie's openness in talking about her experience and her decision to have surgery would raise awareness of the disease and its risk.

Jolie won a 1999 best supporting actress Oscar for Girl, Interrupted.

She lends her star power to a range of humanitarian campaigns, including serving more than 10 years as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

In April, she urged governments to step up efforts to bring wartime sex offenders to justice.

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by: henok habte from: Dallas, Texas.

May 27, 2013 12:14 PM

Angelina Jolie is a great humaniterian and a United Nations good will ambassador to the world. I am a big fan. I hope she weathers this cancer and live long. On another note; VOA have a headline news of "Angelina Jolie's Aunt Dies of Breast Cancer" w/ no comment option; the headline picture of a smiling Angelina from a different time does not befit the story of bereavement. Poor choice of picture on the part of VOA news team.

by: andrewborovskikh@gmail.co

May 16, 2013 9:55 AM

The overall desire of Americans to play it safe one hundred and ten percent! To hedge against everything. It’s like dropping A-bombs on two cities to hell and gone just in case. It’s like eradicating turnskins who used to be your near relatives just a while ago – the most common science fiction theme in America. It’s like committing suicide not to develop cancer. Angelina, I’m so sorry for every lost inch of your body. Medicine is forging ahead. The more so, the American medicine is. Medical screening plus 30 minutes of aerobics daily would most probably do the job without the mastectomy vandalism.

by: Yoshi from: Sapporo

May 16, 2013 4:46 AM

I'm sorry but I would like to ask her if there is another way to regular inspection.

by: Chuck Spohr from: USA

May 15, 2013 12:27 AM

Ms. Jolie, I know very little about your career or your persona. I do admire the private courage you had and the public courage you are showing.

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